Pushing for 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' ridiculous when our own GST dues are being denied: TMC
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday once again slammed the Modi government for not releasing the pending GST compensation by stating that "forcefully pushing for Atmanirbhar Bharat is ridiculous when he is depriving us of our own GST dues and killing the federal structure!"
The Centre owes Rs 53,000 crore and Rs 4,500 crore as GST compensation to Bengal.
On Thursday, the party had raised the question that "where was Prime Minister Narendra Modi hiding with no concrete measures insight when the nation's problems continue to pile up" and also pounded the Centre for the steepest contraction in the country's economy as the GDP slumped by 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2020-21 financial year.
The state Education minister and secretary-general of Trinamool Congress Partha Chatterjee tweeted in this connection: "Narendra Modiji forcefully pushing for Atmanirbhar Bharat. It is ridiculous when he is depriving us of our own GST dues and killing the federal structure!"
He further stated in his tweet: "How are we to combat the pandemic and the economic crisis without our funds?"
In connection with the steep fall in GDP, senior Trinamool Congress leader and state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim said: "None of us will be surprised if Narendra Modiji and Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharamanji use subterfuge on this occasion as well. It breaks my heart to see my country being destroyed like this. Frightening future ahead!"
Despite no such support from the Centre, the state government has spent more than Rs 2,500 crore so far to fight against Covid. At the same time, around Rs 6,500 crore was released for reconstruction work in Super Cyclone Amphan affected districts.
